Michael Helding (1506–30 September 1561) was a Roman Catholic bishop, scholar, writer and humanist.
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved August 5, 2016 He is also known by his pen-name of Sidonius.

Life

Helding was born in Langenenslingen bei

Riedlingen Riedlingen () is a town in the district (''Kreis'') of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, in the south-west of Germany. It is one of the destinations of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. Riedlingen has approximately 11,000 inhabitants. Geography ...

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen ( Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaringen, ...

, a miller's son. In autumn 1525 he matriculated at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. At Pentecost in 1527 he graduated BA and at Christmas 1528 as MA. He became a lecturer in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, where he became rector of the Domschule (cathedral school) in 1531. There he began his lifelong close contact with humanism. After being ordained as a priest, he worked under Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg at

Mainz Cathedral Mainz Cathedral or St. Martin's Cathedral ( or, officially, ') is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz, Germany. This 1000-year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is the site of the episcopal see of th ...

from 1533 onwards. On 18 October 1537 he was selected to become

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

and was ordained to that role on 4 August the following year. He was also appointed

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Sidon. In 1543 he graduated as a doctor of theology. He served as a Roman Catholic delegate at the 1540-1541

Diet of Worms The Diet of Worms of 1521 ( ) was an Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), imperial diet (a formal deliberative assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire called by Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V and conducted in the Imperial Free City o ...

. He also attended the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

; Helding arrived at Trent on 18 May 1545 as Albrecht's procurator, and left on 8 January 1546, being recalled to Germany to attend the Diet of Regensburg. At the 'armoured'

Diet of Augsburg The diets of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such se ...

of 1547-48 he became the co-author of the

Augsburg Interim The Augsburg Interim (full formal title: ''Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council'') was an imperial decree ordered on 15 May 1548 at the 1548 Die ...

, drawing harsh polemics from

Matthias Flacius Matthias Flacius Illyricus (Latin; ) or Francovich () (3 March 1520 – 11 March 1575) was a Lutheran reformer from Istria, present-day Croatia. He was notable as a theologian, sometimes dissenting strongly with his fellow Lutherans, and as a sch ...

and other Protestants. In December 1550 he became the successor to the Protestant

George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (15 August 1507 – 17 October 1553), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau, and also a Protestant Reformer. After 1544 he became the first ruler of the ...

as the last Catholic

Bishop of Merseburg The Bishopric of Merseburg was an episcopal see on the eastern border of the medieval Duchy of Saxony with its centre in Merseburg, where Merseburg Cathedral was constructed. The see was founded in 967 by Emperor Otto I at the same time in the sa ...

. He was present at the Council of Augsburg in 1555 and in the autumn of 1557 at the Colloquy of Worms, where his questions caused internal conflict between Lutheran theologians. In 1561, less than a year before Helding's death, Ferdinand I appointed him head of the Imperial Council in Vienna. He died in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, aged about 55. Helding is considered one of the most important proponents of Catholic Reform of his time, who tried to use his speeches and writings to maintain Christian unity and to contribute actively towards what he saw as a necessary reform of the Roman Catholic church. He remained true to Catholicism, but was still friendly to reform and tolerant towards the Protestant denominations and other faiths.

Bibliography

*Paul Tschackert
Helding, Michael.
In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, S. 164–166. *Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: HELDING, Michael. In:

Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon The ''Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'' (''BBKL'') is a German biographical encyclopedia covering deceased persons related to the history of the church, philosophy and literature, founded by Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz, the first volu ...

(BBKL). Band 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, , Sp. 696–698.

External links

Digitalised works on CAMENA
* (for Chronology of Bishops) * (for Chronology of Bishops) {{DEFAULTSORT:Helding, Michael Roman Catholic bishops of Merseburg 1506 births 1561 deaths People from Biberach (district)